Snowblowers and/or Snowthrowers

[McClarkus]

Chris - Do you have a tractor? Just a thought mind you. I know you're looking for a single purpose machine. I don't farm anything but I got a Kioti tractor that I use to grade the gravel driveway with a box blade. It has a 4' brush hog for doing heavy mowing, the tail blade is for plowing snow, and it's got an endloader bucket that does a lot of digging and other things that need lifting. Some day, the back hoe attachment with let me dig out stumps and dig my little hidey holes and root cellars. I inherited my first one when Dad passed away and I didn't think I would use it much but I was mistaken. I eventually got the 25hp diesel and will find uses for it until I give up the ghost. Time spent on the tractor is good time spent in my book. You've probably already considered this so I'll shut up now.....

[Aglifter]

+1 for a Kubota tractor - might be overkill for a sidewalk, though

[Precision]

Have you thought about a mower with attachments?

http://www.grasshoppermower.com/snowremoval.php


http://www.grasshoppermower.com/snowthrower_snow.php

Gas or DEISEL and usable all year long

[skb12172]

Or perhaps a desire to run it around the neighborhood yourself as a side business on snow days?

Heh, Chris isn't in a "neighborhood" anymore. Shouting in the wilderness is more like it. I'm envious.

[SoupOrMan]

Wound up getting Snow Remover Version 1.5: the ergonomic shovel. I need to do a lot of concrete work before I get a snowblower, the least of which is patching the top of a slab that's begun to crumble. It's just not neighborly to throw concrete chips at other people's houses. Then there's getting the slabs re-jacked to provide a proper drainage angle or just getting the concrete torn out and flattening and paving over 80 percent of the back yard for garage/ patio space.

So, yeah, until the money starts rolling in, there's no place in the budget for a snowblower.

[blackeagle603]

Quote:
Or perhaps a desire to run it around the neighborhood yourself as a side business on snow days?

Heh, Chris isn't in a "neighborhood" anymore. Shouting in the wilderness is more like it. I'm envious.

Context my good man. That followed Soup's comment about financial constraints.

[SoupOrMan]

After getting some money set aside, I bought one of the Toro Power Max snowthrowers. With this, the snowfall in Illinois should be mild for as long as I stay here, never leaving more than 2" of accumulation and keeping the temperatures hovering around a nightly low of 37-40. If I want to ensure that central Illinois never gets anything except warm, gentle rain in the winter, I shall also have to buy some form of dedicated 4x4 vehicle. The reasons this will happen is because I have bad luck when preparing for cold weather. It winds up never getting as cold as everyone expects.

[Denis]

After getting some money set aside, I bought one of the Toro Power Max snowthrowers.

LOL, Soup. Well wear. That looks like quite a beast. There must be some way of turning it into something useful for the summer too - a Pimm's mixer, perhaps...

[SoupOrMan]

There could be, but right now the only thing I could see is using it as a chip-thrower from the bad patch of concrete in my driveway.